Category: Anime

This first one is kind of the standard “popular girl falls for unpopular guy,” but it’s two girls. And it’s a good romantic comedy, because I like both of the love interests, would be happy if the protagonist ended up with either, and don’t think the protagonist is cringey.

This next one is following the common theme of “overpower OP who is real key to party is kicked out and finds a new home where his true powers become evident.” It wasn’t a bad entry, but no great twists or surprises.

Another fantasy with an overpower protagonist. This one has some twists, but sometimes the omniscience and overpower of the protagonist get in the way. Still, kind of interesting. At least the first season.

Okay, I’m really reaching back in time for this last one. It’s one of my favorite anime of all time and one that really got me into anime. So, of course I need to put it in my recommendations.

This first one was a pleasant surprise. I do enjoy rom-coms with adult protagonists, and this one’s premise was more amusing than anticipated.

And talking about interesting premises. This next one’s was very interesting. Just to warn you ahead of time – the ending is ambiguous. Not bad, just ambiguous.

This is the month for interesting premises. And here’s the fantasy entry. It started strong, but sort of petered out in the middle. Not enough to make me want to stop watching, but just as a heads up.

Our final entry is more of a standard high school rom-com with a couple of interesting twists. Not really high on my lists, but it was interesting enough for me to finish.

The first one is making a lot of waves on my various feeds, and there’s a good reason. It’s a sweet rom-com with some of the standard tropes, but it’s not the season-long slow burn.

Next up is another rom-com, but there’s a sci-fi twist. This is one where I would recommend the sub version because the dubbed voice actors get distracting. I will also say it gets a bit sappy sometimes, but it’s still an enjoyable watch.

This third recommendation is a rom-com with a mythical twist. It’s your typical harem rom-com for the most part. Nothing really spectacular except for the general premise.

Finally, we have a slice of life show, but with at a school for cute monster girls. What I like is watching some of the characters graduate and new ones come in. This gives it a more “realistic” feel – or at least more like how life occurs with people coming in and out.

This first one I knew to be very popular, but I’d been holding back as there were other series I was more interested in. Then I finally decided to take the plunge and ended up binging the first two seasons before coming up for air.

Yet another isekai playing with the tropes. I liked the concept and overall, it’s not too bad. The supporting cast makes up for the protagonist being stupid.

Our third recommendation this month is a cute rom-com, but with a bit of a twist. This is one I wish was dubbed because The Wife would get a kick out of it.

This last is your standard workplace slow-burn with interesting characters. Yet another I wish had a dub.

This first one had an interesting premise. The downside is that a lot of the characters are pretty much shonen tropes. And the main character goes between cool and insufferable way too much. Still, it was overall pretty decent.

This next one is a dark fantasy that plays with some of the tropes and comes up with something fresh. I don’t know why, but the animation feels almost as if the animators behind “Heavy Metal” decided to try out anime.

Third, we have an isekai. Sort of. It was on a couple of lists of good “reverse isekai,” but I’m not sure I would call it that. I will say that the main character is annoying to the point of being someone I actively disliked. The supporting cast kept me going, and I was glad of it.

This last one is more or less the standard high-school rom-com, but it does some twist and turns from the standard tropes. And the characters are enjoyable.

This first one was an interesting slice-of-life / romance that did not go as I expected it. This is also one I think is missing a lot of backstory that’s probably in the manga. Still enjoyable.

This next one is an “opposites attract” kind of rom-com. I’m not a big fan of the main female protagonist, but she doesn’t do anything to make me actively dislike her either. I also like that this is one of those where they get together in the first episode and it’s more of how their relationship goes than the “will-they / won’t they” normal.

The next is in the “reborn into an otome game as the bad girl” genre. The nice thing is the protagonist’s only goal is to avoid all the bad outcomes – and none of her plans involve romance. Different take on the tropes.

Okay, this last one is kind of weird for me – it’s pretty much everything that I’ve come to dislike. All the characters are kind of losers. The story is pretty much all slapstick and ecchi. Yet, like the train wreck that it is, I can’t look away.