Well everyone, the summer is officially over. It’s time to look back on the… very limited amount of anime that we consumed this season and to discuss our final thoughts as we move into the cooler parts of the year. Without further ado, let’s get 'em rounded up.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season Two (Kinda, it's not over yet)

MAPPA is never afraid to make human sacrifices in order to produce fantastic adaptations, and this season of Jujutsu may have reached new heights both in animation and storytelling. I simply can’t suck this series' dick enough right now, as I believe the incredible backstory and current arc have cemented it as my favorite airing shounen. MAPPA consistently goes above and beyond to bring the action in this story to life with vibrant visuals and cool choreography, and slapping on the original writing of the creator, I don’t see what’s not to like so far. A fantastic next installment for the cursed spirit shounen. Ecstatic we have so many episodes still coming down the pipeline.

Mushoku Tensei Season Two

This season took a step back from the typical adventurous nature of Rudeus’ life and instead focused on character building through a romantic plotline. I was worried we might end up dicking around for too long and wasting time, but just about the point I thought I was getting fed up with the pacing, the two lovebirds had a meaningful conversation and connection that felt earned and sucked me right back in. Viewers may be a bit disappointed by the lack of overall progress this part brought to the table, but those who appreciate the fantasy slice of life aspects of the show won’t be disappointed. I’m excited to see where the cast goes from here once the next segment drops.

Rent-A-Girlfriend Season Three

Shit.

Horimiya: Piece

Okay listen. I love Horimiya, you have to believe me. I thought the OG anime was one of the best romances I’ve seen in a hot minute. And I thought this was a second season, right until Kinky informed me on episode 1 that it’s merely a collection of adaptations from chapters that were skipped by the OG series. In other words, this was basically comedy hour every hour with no real character progression or development. And for a while I was having a blast. Then Street Fighter 6 came out…. Genshin Impact updated… and well, I ended up dropping this. Not because it was terrible or anything, but without the deep character building that I originally fell in love with, the series felt like watching a Saturday morning cartoon. Funny and chill, but not necessarily stimulating or compelling. Anyways, I have no idea what happens after episode six. Fans of Horimiya may still enjoy this and I implore them to, but be warned this is no continuation temporally or spiritually.

Ai no Idenshi

Let’s get the one negative out of the way first: do NOT watch this for the main plotline. It’s set up early as a show where the MC will work toward finding out what happened to an AI copy of his mother’s personality. As of the final episode, we still don’t have much of a clue. So that’s simply something that’s there in the background but has no resolution. With that made clear, the REAL show, which is an anthology of short pieces about the future of AI and technology in our world, is fantastic. There were so many stories that made me rethink an aspect of where the future might go. This show refuses to just give you answers or spout a belief in your face like “AI sucks” or “AI will save us”, instead calling on the audience to make their own conclusions about the outcomes of most of the stories. It’s not often we receive an anime where it’s so clear that it’s pleading with you to ponder the world for a bit. While the main plotline and characters were average at best, I still think this is an easy recommendation for those not afraid of the anthology format and are ready to put their thinking cap on. 

Undead Murder Farce

This anime started off with one of the best mystery arcs I’ve seen in this medium in years. The medium is already pretty devoid of real mysteries in the first place, so this was instantly a breath of fresh air. But add on top the way that the series used commonly known myths about monsters (vampires, werewolves) to craft mysteries that the viewer could solve alongside the detectives was masterful. What was not masterful is the horrendous second arc, and the insurance Espada. The second arc of this series has way too many characters introduced, no actual murder to solve, and some poor action that breaks the rules of the anime. It’s essentially a waste of time in my eyes. Luckily in the third act we pivot back to a pure mystery format like the first arc and my attention was recaptured all over again. I’d love a second season of this that focuses on more mysteries and less of the author including typical dumb anime bullshit like unneeded one dimensional villains and pervy jokes that feel out of place. Overall if you enjoy mysteries you should love the beginning and ending of this anime which is probably enough to warrant watching it.

Dark Gathering

I’ll give this series one thing, it is unique. The animation is pretty devoid-of-budget if you catch my drift, and it dangerously combines the genres of horror and comedy. However, the characters do have enough charm in their chemistry to keep this from being boring. Kinky and I watched this together until episode six as we were both interested in it, but at that point the show settled into a “ghost of the week” format that while nice, wasn’t doing that much to keep us invested. One problem is that this project is going to run for twenty four episodes, and while I did enjoy my time with it, that just seemed like WAY too long for the level of progression and plotline setup on display. If you enjoy spooky ghosts and whatnot this is a great pick, certainly considering the time of year. But a lack of consistent character growth, a long runtime, and slow plotline progress makes this hard to recommend for anyone else.

I have to say, this sure is a lot more fun to do when there’s not 10+ anime I’m watching in a season. Maybe these dry spells aren’t so bad after all. What did you pick up this summer? Which anime were your favorites? Did I miss a diamond in the rough? Whip out the fleece, watch the leaves fall, and say goodbye to Summer Anime 2023 in the comments below!